Repossessions

Repossession – the seizure of collateral (most frequently a motor vehicle) when the terms of an agreement are not being met – is generally a very unpleasant experience. Situations exist, however, in which a creditor has no choice but to seize the collateral used to secure a debt.

The legal definition of repossession is: the taking back of an item that has been sold on credit and delivered to the purchaser because the payments have not been made on it.

Nobody wants to go through that.

A licensed private investigator can make the situation easier, either on behalf of the creditor or on behalf of the debtor.

Assisting the Creditor

The role a private investigator can play in a repossession on behalf of a creditor is fairly easy to imagine. Many debtors attempt to avoid repossession by evasion, either by concealing the vehicle or by skipping town. A private investigator may be necessary in such cases, as locating the vehicle or the debtor can require more investigative skill than most repossession (“repo”) agents usually possess.

At John A DeMarr PI, our investigators can put a skip trace on someone seeking to evade repossession. We have extensive experience in such investigations, and are usually able to track the debtor – and the property to be repossessed – in a matter of days. We make it well worth a car dealership’s while to engage us in most repossession situations. A licensed private investigator can make easy work of assignments that require far more time from repo agents working on their own.

Protecting the Debtor

If your vehicle (or other property) is being repossessed, there are legalities that must be respected, most especially that the repossessor cannot cause a “breach of the peace” in order to repossess the collateral. In California, this means that a repossessor cannot do any of the following when seizing your vehicle:

• threaten you or your family with physical violence or arrest during the repossession;
• touch or harm anyone;
• repossess the vehicle after you have instructed the repossession agent not to;
• enter a closed or locked garage;
• break any lock or gate;
• have the police present unless the finance company has a judgment against you; or
• enter your home.

Illegal repossessions occur all the time.

A private investigator can help you in this situation, as we can quickly obtain evidence of how the repossession was illegally performed – evidence that can lead to recovery of your vehicle, and possibly to monetary damages to be paid by the repossessor.

As investigators who have worked on both sides of the repossession coin, Private Detective Services One is uniquely suited to assisting clients in repossession cases. We know the laws. We know what can and cannot be done.

And we know how to help our clients.

If you are a repossessor or repossessee and are in need of our services, please call for a free consultation and quote. You may also contact us by email, using the convenient form below.